Month: June 2026

“The Tartan Army heads home”

We began the week with a walk in the park on Monday morning.  We had a couple of celebrity sightings during the outing – Kenny passed on his bike with a “Hey, Hey, Hey,” and then we passed Cooper Manning with his very recognizable gait.  I also got a thumbs up for my Gleason t-shirt from another guy wearing a similar tribute.

I watched some World Cup in the afternoon and it was almost a replay of last Monday – Messi and Mbappe with multiple excellent goals.  Messi’s goal gave him the lead with the most goals ever scored in World Cups.  The France game in Philadelphia had a long weather delay as a major thunderstorm moved through.  Ronaldo had yet to score and has a lot of catching up to do.  I really am enjoying the early games and looking forward to the elimination rounds, which may well include Scotland for the first time ever.

We hung the new jazz stars that Diana gave me for my birthday in the evening.  Bill Evans and Dizzie Gillespie are now playing with Miles.  I love looking at this band and enjoy that they all came from that wonderful little store in San Sebastian.  The artist really captures all three so well.

Here’s some background if you’re not familiar with the three players – their careers are very much linked:

“Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and Dizzy Gillespie are connected through the evolution of modern jazz, though they played different roles and belonged to slightly different generations.

Direct connections

• Miles Davis and Bill Evans
  • Bill Evans was a key member of Miles Davis’s late-1950s groups.
  • Evans’s harmonic style and impressionistic piano playing strongly influenced Davis’s landmark album Kind of Blue.
  • Evans played on most of the tracks on Kind of Blue, one of the most influential jazz recordings ever made.
• Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie
  • Both were trumpet virtuosos and major innovators.
  • Early in his career, Miles Davis was influenced by Dizzy Gillespie’s bebop revolution.
  • In the 1940s, Davis played alongside bebop pioneers including Charlie Parker, who was Gillespie’s close collaborator.
  • Davis later moved away from the fast, complex bebop style associated with Gillespie and helped develop cool jazz, modal jazz, and jazz fusion.

Musical lineage

You can think of their relationship as a chain of influence:

Dizzy Gillespie → Miles Davis ← Bill Evans

• Dizzy Gillespie helped create bebop, the modern jazz language that shaped the young Miles Davis.
• Miles Davis became one of jazz’s greatest innovators, building on and reacting to bebop.
• Bill Evans collaborated with Davis and helped shape Davis’s modal jazz period, particularly on Kind of Blue.

Shared importance

Together, they represent major stages in jazz history:

1. Dizzy Gillespie — Bebop pioneer (1940s).
2. Miles Davis — Innovator across multiple jazz movements (1940s–1980s).
3. Bill Evans — Influential pianist whose harmonic concepts helped define modal and modern jazz (1950s–1970s).

In short, Dizzy Gillespie influenced the jazz world that shaped Miles Davis, while Bill Evans was a close collaborator who helped Miles Davis create some of the most important music in jazz history.”

We watched the new Netflix rom-com “Voicemails for Isabelle” on Monday evening.

We both enjoyed the movie, although one of us fell asleep and missed the last few minutes.  Interestingly the settings oscillated between Austin and San Francisco and so we were able to comment on how unlikely it was that scenes would take place where they would – e.g. the main character sitting on a bench by the lookout on the far side of the Golden Gate bridge – that would have been a several hours walk up a very steep hill from where she worked.

Diana had her usual pickleball on Tuesday morning and I went for a workout at the New Orleans Athletic Club (it’s getting too hot for me to do too much outside.)  I listened to an audio book of “Just Kids” by Patti Smith as I exercised.

After the NOAC, I relaxed by watching the Portugal game.  Ronaldo redeemed himself with two nice goals in the first half, and Portugal finished with a commanding victory.

We had a larger group than anticipated for trivia in the evening.  Jack, Alex and Aidan came just a few hours after returning home from Iceland.  By all accounts they had a fabulous trip.  Mason came as well, after a hard day at work.  That was a good thing as he knew several answers that nobody else had a clue about.  We were in the lead going into the final question with 90 points, and three teams tied for second with 86 points.

Here’s a disturbing picture from inside Dat Dog:

Jack Nicholson from “The Shining” in an Edvard Munch “Scream” style hot dog.  Quite unique and disturbing.  I know quite a bit about the “Scream” painting, having “helped” Will with a paper about it.

The final question was not something any of us new anything about – so we bet zero out of a possible 20 and won by 4 points – most of the other teams deploying the same strategy.  We were quite proud of our win – a true team effort.

Diana had her first walk in the park with Julia in a while on Wednesday morning – summer’s get busy with kids and travel.

Anticipation had been building all day for the Scotland vs Brazil World Cup match in the evening.  I enjoyed watching the interactions between the two groups of fans on TV – Brazilians teaching the Tartan Army to Samba.  The commentators noted that they had not heard such levels of participation in the national anthems at any other games.

Unfortunately, Scotland made several silly mistakes that cost them goals – the first at 7 min into the game, ultimately losing 3-0.  I really hope one or two of those silly goals don’t end up being the difference in advancing to the elimination round, and I have a nasty feeling they will.  It is pleasant to hear World Cup updates on the national news where the presenters biggest concern is if Scotland will make it to the next round – wasn’t even on their minds prior to the start of the tournament and their introduction to the Tartan Army.

I enjoyed this LinkedIn post from Matthew Ricks, one of my Sun Microsystems customers when we ran their data centers.

I enjoyed this clever cartoon in the newspaper on Thursday morning:

The temperatures in Europe continued to break records and I laughed at this article about the “gritters” being out in Scotland to spread sand over the main roads to try and reflect heat and cool the surface.

Gritters out in Scotland in Heatwave

It was 88 degrees in Dumfries (my birthplace) and that’s what prompted the “gritting.”  I would be quite happy with 88 this week, but it’s all what you’re used to and equipped for.

Denny was experiencing some very nice cool temperatures in Colorado.  Doesn’t he look a bit like Julie Andrews?  “The Hills are Alive.”

We watched the movie “The Sheep Detectives” on Thursday afternoon and night.  Highly recommended.   I have no idea how they make these AI generated sheep so loveable and believable, but they do.

In between movie sessions, we tried a new place for dinner and music.  I had heard a song from Dex Daley on WWOZ (local radio station) that featured steel drums – they are a favourite of McD’s after she watched a show about how they are made.  The song is not available on Spotify and so I had looked across the internet and found an article saying he was playing at Afrodisiac (intentional spelling change) in Gentilly on Thursday evening.  This is a Jamaican themed restaurant and I had been wanting to visit for a while to try their jerk chicken.  I missed the Gentlemen Out At Lunch (GOAL) lunch there a few months ago.

The food and drinks were delicious.  We tried the jerk chicken and shrimp nachos, a salad with pineapple, cucumber and avocado with a lemon vinaigrette dressing, a hibiscus lemonade and a pain killer (D doing her best to teleport to an island beach.)

I highly recommend the food and drinks and just caution you that it seemed to take the better part of an hour for them to arrive, and the place wasn’t overly busy.  Fortunately, we had the music of Dex Daley to enjoy.  Such positive energy and sound.

Here’s a link to a lot more detail about Daley’s interesting history and background:

Dex Daley and Jamx bio

Friday began with another walk in the park – seemed a wee bit cooler than earlier in the week.

Diana played pickleball in the afternoon with some friends and came back quite pumped about the session.  I enjoyed some World Cup.

In the evening we watched the “Somebody Feed Phil” episode about Montreal and made note of a couple of potential places to visit for local fare.

I also watched a bit of a very silly movie called “Little Brother” starring John Cena.

They seen to have more elections in New Orleans than I’ve seen anywhere else.  On Saturday you voted to decide if we should keep paying for the Garden District security patrol (hope so) and for the run off candidates for Senate.  There’s an initial election and if nobody gets enough votes (above 50% I think), then there’s a run off between the top two candidates (the case in this one), and then there will be the final vote in November.

I walked down to the fire station on Magazine Street with Diana on Saturday morning so that she could vote and I could get us coffee from the French Truck.  She was finishing voting by the time I picked up our coffees – very efficient.

After that, we made a trip to the NOAC for some exercise in the air conditioning.  Then a trip to Trader Joe’s for needed groceries and supplies.  Saturday morning is most certainly the prime time to go there – as confirmed by our checkout guy.  Apparently Sunday morning is a quite different proposition.  We gathered the ingredients to make buffalo chickpea wraps – what appears to be a healthy version of Taco Bell’s crunchwrap supreme.  For the first time that I remember we divided up the ingredients and set out to different sections of the store.  Such good teamwork!  This is what they should look like:

Diana also treated herself to some peonies, one of her favourite flowers.

As the group matches ended, Scotland’s fate was sealed by that 3-0 loss to Brazil, and the Tartan Army began the journey home.

We made the chickpea wraps for a late lunch/early dinner on Sunday.  They were tasty and the recipe created way more filling than could fit in four large tortillas – we easily filled six.  After eating, we drove over to the Constantinople porch stage to see Dave Jordan and Rurik Nunan perform.  We’ve heard them both separately at the Broadside and enjoyed their individual sounds.  Together they blended very pleasantly.

Can you believe Jack has hosted 281 shows on his front porch?  That’s some staying power.

Kenny and Kara attended a music festival curated by Wilco in Massachusetts over the weekend.  I’ve always wanted to visit Morocco and so was intrigued by this photo:

I finished “Contrapposto” by Dave Eggers this week.  I always enjoy Eggers writing and was not disappointed.  The detail of the art world was a whole new thing for me – at a much deeper level than that from “The Fine Art of Lying” from a few weeks ago.  I’m not sure this is for everyone but I enjoyed it quite a bit.  Here’s an online summary of the story:

“Cricket Dib, born on the American prairie, has no particular prospects or ambitions until, in grade school, he realizes he can draw. He soon meets a girl, Olympia Argyros, one year older, who is captivating and brilliant and far more worldly. Recognizing his talent, she convinces him to deface, with profound vulgarity, a popular playground. Under her direction, he does it willingly, already in love, and thus begins a sixty-five-year entwining between Cricket and Olympia, encompassing friendship, working partnership and love affair. Together they go to art school—an experience of dubious value—and then navigate the art world for the next fifty years, together and apart.

Contrapposto is a moving and very funny novel about allies and art, and what it means to be an artist. All through their lives, Cricket sees Olympia as his soulmate and destiny, and while she is always his champion, romantically her eyes are always seeking something—and someone—else. Their love changes over the decades, but their commitment to each other, and their search for meaning in the making of art, never wanes. The novel spans the globe, from New York to Thailand, Indiana to Paris, and follows Cricket and Olympia through sickness and health, war and death.

The novel is a wild and beautiful examination of the rules and market forces of the art world, but chiefly it’s about two friends who believe they can change that world, and bring new meaning to it, if only they can start their own movement, dodge charlatans, remain open-eyed and open-hearted, avoid going mad, avoid dying young of rare cancers, stay true to their ideals, and never tire of beauty. Not easy, but not impossible, either.”

My next book was “The Man Who Came Uptown” by George Pelecanos.  I don’t think I’ve read any of his books before and picked it up online while waiting in the queue for several other books.  It was a quick, easy and relatively entertaining read.  Nothing special.

“In bestselling and Emmy-nominated writer George Pelecanos’ novel, one of the best mysteries of 2018 (Publishers Weekly), an ex-offender must choose between the man who got him out and the woman who showed him another path.

Michael Hudson spends the long days in prison devouring books given to him by the prison’s librarian, a young woman named Anna who develops a soft spot for her best student. Anna keeps passing Michael books until one day he disappears, suddenly released after a private detective manipulated a witness in Michael’s trial.

Outside, Michael encounters a Washington, D.C. that has changed a lot during his time locked up. Once shady storefronts are now trendy beer gardens and flower shops. But what hasn’t changed is the hard choice between the temptation of crime and doing what’s right. Trying to balance his new job, his love of reading, and the debt he owes to the man who got him released, Michael struggles to figure out his place in this new world before he loses control.

Smart and fast-paced, The Man Who Came Uptown brings Washington, D.C. to life in a high-stakes story of tough choices.”

There were second line tributes this week for Ronell Johnson, a multi-instrumentalist with the Preservation Hall band for many years.  I love this picture with the band members on the balcony above the Hall.

Offbeat article on Ronell Johnson

“Don’t Dream It’s Over” by Crowded House has been a long time favourite of mine, and so I was intrigued when I heard local hero, Deacon John, playing a cover on WWOZ.  He does a great job.  I love the “Crowded Shotgun House” name for the EP.

“Happy Anniversary to Us, Happy Birthday to Finn, Happy Father’s Day”

Five hours.  That’s how much pickleball McD played on Monday.  Two hours starting at 8am and three hours finishing at 9pm.  Do we think she might have a wee problem?

Dee introduced us to these snacks that are surprisingly good and addictive – just like the sport for Diana:

I was out doing some anniversary preparation on Tuesday and stopped into Magasin for lunch.  This is a Vietnamese place on Magazine Street near Theo’s pizza and Shaya, that I’ve been wanting to try for a while.  It’s a small place with classical piano music playing – very relaxing and not what I was expecting.  I started with crab Rangoon and followed that with shrimp garlic thick noodles (including a fried egg nestled on top).  Both were delicious and provided lots of leftovers.

The majority of our trivia team was overseas on vacation – Alex in Iceland with Jack and Aidan, Thom in Crete with his Jack, Denny in Boulder, and Pepperoni in Cincinnati.  Couple that with the constant rain all day and I wasn’t heart broken when Kenny suggested that we take a week off – seemed like it was just going to be the two of us and there are a lot of topics that aren’t our strong suit – anything to do with games, comics, Marvel movies and the like.

I enjoyed a couple of World Cup games on Tuesday afternoon and evening.  MBappe started things off with two amazing goals for France.

That was followed by an even more impressive hat-trick for Messi and Argentina – his first goal was just amazing.

The US media have been quite interested in the exploits of the “Tartan Army” (Scottish World Cup fans.)  Here’s a report on them drinking Boston out of beer – consuming three times as much as is drunk on St. Patrick’s day.

Tartan Army drinks Boston dry

Here’s a segment from the Today show featuring fans from different countries and their reactions to US culture.  I love the Norwegian fans playing Viking rowers on the escalator:

Today show segment on World Cup fans

Finn celebrated his birthday on Wednesday and shared this picture of some of his cards on his fridge.  Can you spot the one that came from New Orleans?

Here he is with his birthday dessert:

We celebrated our 9th anniversary on Wednesday with a lovely lunch at Commander’s Palace.  Very stormy weather was forecast and it held off until we could make the 600 foot walk back home.

Yes – for the second or third time this year, I put a suit on.  Diana wore her very pretty pink dress that I’ve eclipsed in this picture, and got compliments on it from the staff at Commander’s.

Our meal was great – I started with the trio of demitasse sized soups, and followed that with the cochon de lait tostada (why would spellcheck not know cochon, it has clearly never been to New Orleans) – the most tender and flavourful pork.

Diana also started with the trio of soups and followed those with the grilled fish (drum).  And then she decided on the chocolate tart – so decadent.  The chocolate is from the Piety and Desire chocolate and coffee shop next to Aidan Gill (where I get my hair cut.)  I often have a macchiato in there after my trim.

And of course the 25 cent martinis:

We exchanged gifts and cards after lunch.  Look at this frame with San Sebastian city map around my favourite picture of McD from that trip – nicely done, Diana.

Here’s a fun game.  Remember those things as a kid where you had to find a number of differences between two similar pictures?  Well, what’s different about these?  (answer at the end of this post)

Diana is getting very fancy with her cards.  Apparently the theme for nine years of marriage is pottery.

Denny shared one of his favourite pictures from our wedding day.

I asked him what Dad and I were looking at.  He thinks it was the storm brewing in the distance, as we wondered if we had to move the reception under cover.  He has no idea what Mum and Diana were in such a serious conversation about.

We “enjoyed” some severe weather on Wednesday night/Thursday morning.  The first named storm of the season, Arthur, sat on us for a while and was very loud.  We didn’t have any real flooding or impacts, but other areas a few miles from us had major damage and some tornadoes with roofs gone.

We made our first trip to our new, closer Trader Joe’s on Thursday.  The parking was much better than I expected and the store was very quiet and calm.  It was a pleasant shopping experience overall.  I enjoyed the murals they have above the shelves that are locally focused.

Mason sent this video in support of the Scotland vs Morocco game on Friday afternoon – very funny:

We met Kenny to watch the USMNT World Cup game at the Tchoup Yard – one of the collection of breweries that are situated along Tchoupatoulis Street, an industrial area by the river that provides large spaces at much lower cost than other areas.  We were looking forward to lunch – they advertised a crunch wrap take off on my Taco Bell favourite, and Kenny wanted to try the chicken sandwich that Pepperoni raved about on a prior visit.  We didn’t love the food – decent but way too salty, I suppose that’s supposed to make you drink more beer?

This was my first visit to the brewery and I was impressed with the variety of seating areas – inside with A/C, outside in the humidity, and with various different seating options.  It got very busy and loud inside as the match proceeded.  As is typical with events like this in New Orleans, everyone says they’re “going to watch the game” and then nobody does – they form in circles and chat and catch up.  The same thing happens at music festivals and concerts.

The USMNT won handily and we made our way back to our home to watch Scotland and Morocco.  Kenny and Kara joined, with a brief appearance by Mason and his buddy, Evan.  Alas, Scotland lost 0-1.  The positive news is that they played quite well in the second half and have a good chance of making into the round of 32 for the first time in their 8 appearances.

I enlisted Kenny to sing along with our anthem, “Flower of Scotland”, and I got confused when the crowd didn’t sing the second verse, only the first and third.  Apparently this is standard and it shows how much attention that I’ve been playing.  The second verse about the aftermath of the Battle of Bannockburn, is actually one of my favourites.  What’s that?  You’d like to know a wee bit more about the Battle.  Okay then:

The Battle of Bannockburn (June 23–24, 1314) was a decisive Scottish victory during the First War of Scottish Independence.  King Robert the Bruce led a smaller Scottish army to rout a much larger English force commanded by King Edward II, securing Scottish sovereignty and confirming Bruce’s reign.

I got a text from my neighbour, Tony, “Go Tartan Army!”  I was concerned that he had heard us singing and that was the reason for the text.  Thankfully they are in Florida for a few days.

I offered to watch a rom-com with Diana on Friday evening but she was too tired for a full movie and so we watched an episode of “I Will Find You”, the latest series from a Harlen Coben novel on Netflix.  She was very gracious in reminding me about the large cast of characters that I struggled to recall from previous episodes.

Saturday was a relatively lazy day – Diana went for a long walk, then had her “pool time” interrupted by the typical afternoon thunderstorm.  I watched some of the Netherlands beating up on Sweden (5-1), read for a while, and watched some of the US Open golf.

Sunday was Father’s Day.  Kenny, Kara and Nina kindly invited us to crash their plans for the afternoon in the French Quarter.  First stop was The Historic New Orleans Collection, a free museum with various exhibits celebrating the history of our city.  They had a special exhibition to celebrate the American Revolution.  Here’s how they described it:

“American Revolution:  The Augmented Exhibition

Immerse yourself in America’s fight for independence in this new exhibition experience designed and produced by French technology firm Histovery.”

You were issued a tablet on entry and had to scan in 14 different stations to read the history, find treasures, and travel around the various scenes.  This became tiresome for Kenny and me pretty quickly – seemed like an overuse of technology and it was annoying to have to spin around in circles holding the tablet aloft to see everything.  That being said there was a plethora of interesting information presented in an engaging way.  We beat a relatively quick retreat to some comfy seats and waited a while for the ladies who had started and were determined to finish.

Kenny and I wandered upstairs to check out the Aeolian residential player pipe organ.

Apparently these player organs were very popular in the houses of the rich in the 1800s.  We listened to a couple of songs from downstairs when they gave the 3pm demonstration – sounded great.

We were all hungry for lunch at Acme oyster house.

I enjoyed some of the delicious chargrilled oysters and a cup of crab and corn soup.  The others had po-boys, and raw and chargrilled oysters.

Kenny and Kara met a friend they had worked with at the Hard Rock Cafe years ago, now working at Acme, and he treated us to some desserts.  That deconstructed pecan pie martini looking thing in front of Kenny was the best.

In the evening, the group minus Nina watched the movie “Greg Allman: The Music of My Soul” at the Broad.  This movie only had two showings in the New Orleans area.  We all thoroughly enjoyed it and I would highly recommend it to any music lover.

I enjoyed this Father’s Day article from Keith Spera, music writer for the local paper, about his father’s love for music:

Spera father’s day

My first book this week was “The Midnight Train” by Matt Haig.  I have read a few of his books and was looking forward to this one.  I had a bit of a hard time not feeling that the premise was a bit trite and formulaic.  The story was great and engaging once I decided to put that aside.  It was just a little too close to “The Midnight Library” for me not to feel like Haig is riding too much of a good thing.  Here’s an online summary of the plot:

“The Midnight Train is a 2026 novel by Matt Haig, set in the same universe as The Midnight Library, about a recently deceased man named Wilbur who boards a magical train to revisit key moments in his life, particularly his regrets and lost love with Maggie. The story follows his journey through his past, exploring themes of regret, redemption, and the importance of appreciating the life you have, even with its flaws. It’s a magical, time-traveling love story that serves as a companion to The Midnight Library, focusing on a more active exploration of past choices. “

A couple of paragraphs that set up the main premise:

“It’s like that Kierkegaard quote. “Life can only be understood backward; but it must be lived forward.”  And this train offers a solution.  Life relived forward.”

“”As I have told you,” she said, “eternity is a moveable concept.  it is what you make it.  to get the most out of it, you need to know yourself.  And that is what these windows are for.”  She looked a little sad for a moment.  But then put on a brisk and professional smile.  “I’ll leave you to it.  Toodle-pip.””

Wilbur’s first entry into bookshop work:

“Sometimes the biggest moments in a lifetime are also the smallest, pondered the Ghost.

And sometimes people don’t quite know they are the biggest moments until you are able to step out of the train and look back at them.

Like getting a holiday job in a bookshop back in 1961, during the school summer holidays.”

I read this passage and had to look up “contrapposto.”

“Wilbur had been in a strange twisted position as he wrestled for control of the car.  And this awkward contrapposto, with his leg trying to reach the brake pedal, meant that he was lower in his seat.”

Here’s what I found:

“Contrapposto (Italian for “counterpose”) is an artistic technique where a standing human figure shifts most of their weight onto one foot.  This causes the hips and shoulders to tilt in opposite directions, creating a natural, relaxed, and asymmetrical posture.”

And then things got strange.  I was looking through the library of books that I had on my iPad from the local library to choose a new one to read in bed.  And there was “Contrapposto” from the wonderful Dave Eggers.

“Contrapposto is a 2026 novel by Dave Eggers about the lifelong friendship and artistic journey of two characters, Cricket and Olympia, as they navigate the art world from their youth into old age, exploring themes of love, meaning, and the pursuit of authentic art. The story spans decades and continents, following their complex relationship as they try to create their own art movement while dealing with the commercialism of the art world. The title refers to a classical art pose, reflecting the book’s focus on art and its meaning. “

South African born pianist Abdullah Ibrahim died this week.  He was a loud voice against apartheid and lived most of his life in exile in New York.  I think his touch and laid back phrasing are amazing:

Here’s an NPR article about Ibrahim:

NPR on Abdullah Ibrahim

I watched a very interesting documentary about the Kinks – the biggest band in the UK in the 60s behind the Beatles and the Stones.  Here’s a fun song of theirs:

A song from the Bob Dylan birthday show many years ago that popped up on my list:

Morgan Freeman has an album coming out, “Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience.”  Here’s the initial track featuring

Morgan Freeman Album

Here’s the answer to the question about the two pictures of Diana in San Sebastian:  Her pocket is inside out in the second picture.  She had Alicia “fix” that for the first one.

“A Relaxing Week at Home”

Pickleball kept Diana busy on Monday.  She had a clinic in the morning and then a match with some new friends from the clinics in the aftenroon.

I watched the French Open tennis in the afternoon.  The match between Tiafoe and  was excellent.  Tiafoe had multiple chances to win and couldn’t capitalize.

A real shame, as he had a chance to go far with many of the big names eliminated.

I suggested John Fohl at Dos Jefes to Diana and she jumped on it.  John has been playing Monday nights at Dos Jefes cigar bar for around 30 years and always puts on an excellent show.  There were very few people there, around ten, with Fohl commenting about how much things slow down after the Memorial Day weekend.  As is typical, he started with some finger picked instrumentals before diving into his song repertoire.    I heard all my favourites, particularly this one with the lyric “Left hand of Toussaint, right hand of God.”

John Fohl live always gives me a very nice boost.

While Diana attended another pickleball session on Tuesday morning, I headed over to Aidan Gill for a haircut.  Then I spent an hour or so on a paint by numbers kit – heading straight back to my childhood.  I did find it very relaxing, even if I had to use my phone magnifying glass to see the numbers in some of the sections, and paint them with a very fine tipped brush.  I’ll share a picture when I’m finished.  We visited the New Orleans Athletic Club in the afternoon – I had a swim and a steam while Diana used the treadmill.

Tennis entertained me again in the afternoon – this time Mescik and Fonseca with one of the better matches that I’ve seen in a long time.

We had another good trivia showing in the evening.  The final question asked us to put these 4 events in chronological order:

• The Geneva Conference
• Five Easy Pieces movie
• The launch of Reese’s Pieces
• The publication of a Separate Peace

With a great team effort – Denny on Reese’s, Jack on Geneva, Thom on Separate Peace, and me on Five Easy Pieces – we bet the maximum 20 points and got it right for the win.  Another great leadership job by Kenny!

More pickleball on Wednesday – this time a serving and returning clinic that Diana seemed to enjoy.

And the final pickle session for the week was the Thursday morning clinic.  In the evening we attended a fun event – an outdoor movie at the wonderful Broadside theater.  The offering this time was Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior from 1981, the second in George Miller’s popular series.  An online summary of the plot:

“After avenging the death of his wife and young son at the hands of a vicious gang leader, Max drives the post-apocalyptic highways of the Australian outback, fending off attacks from nomadic tribes that prey on outsiders. Falling into an encampment led by the relatively peaceful Pappagallo, Max at first schemes to steal their oil, but soon becomes the group’s reluctant defender against the hulking Humungus and his ruthless marauders.”

I love the Humungus name, and one of my other favourite characters was the boomerang wielding “Feral Kid.”  Listed just like that in the credits.  Emil Minty was 9 years old at the time.

We really enjoyed sitting outside and enjoying the soundtrack on the massive Broadside sound system.  There is very little dialogue in the movie and the orchestral soundtrack sounded great.

Kenny and Kara stopped into the Chicory house coffee shop across the street from us after their Saturday morning yoga.  We had a nice visit and it was a good excuse for me to enjoy one of the ridiculously good mushroom, brie and shallot turnovers – they have a high butter content.

Anne’s sister, Mary Francis, passed through town on her way to Navarre and the continued condo clean out.  We met the girls at Charmant for a delicious brunch.  Diana did not enjoy the bacon infused Bloody Mary, so I had to help finish it.

I met the boys (Denny, Fred, Richard and various kids) in the afternoon to watch the USMNT play Germany in the last friendly before the World Cup gets underway.  The game was relatively entertaining and it was nice to try a new place that is a close walk for me, the Rendezvous bar.

I wondered why the US team is denoted as the USMNT, when none of the other countries feel the need to append “Men’s National Team” to their country name.  It’s just “Scotland.”  Denny posited that it was in order to make internet searches more efficient.  Perhaps.

I needed something lighter and quicker after the trudge through “Doxology.”  Claire Keegan’s “So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men” was a perfect antidote.  Three short stories that were easy and thought provoking reads.

Here’s an online review:

“So Late in the Day: Stories of Women and Men is a 2023 collection of three short stories by acclaimed Irish author Claire Keegan, exploring complex gender dynamics, misogyny, and missed connections through tales of regret, intrusion, and desire.  The stories, “So Late in the Day,” “The Long and Painful Death,” and “Antarctica,” are praised for their precise, powerful writing and ability to pack significant emotional depth into a small space, often leaving readers with a sense of unease and haunting reflection. “

My next book was “Ghost Town” by Tom Perrotta.  I read this in just over a day – it was another quick and enjoyable read.  I enjoyed “The Leftovers” and was interested to read another of Perrotta’s novels.  Here’s an online summary:

I read that Suzi Quattro, a regular on “Top of the Pops” when I was a kid, turned 76 on Wed.

Alex recommended this one with an interesting band name:

From Marc Paradis, a very talented local musician who plays in a large number of ensembles: